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You may think the fishing is only good either early or late in the day during the summer. Not so! Tidal flow has everything to do with how good or bad the fishing will be on any given day, regardless of how hot it is outside. If a good tide coincides with a sunrise or sunset in the summer, all the better, because fish do feed more aggressively when the sun is at lower angles to the horizon.

When looking for a good summertime fish spot I always consider pinch points, deep water grass flats and passes where the tidal flow is at its fastest. Moving water tends to have a cooling effect, which attracts more fish to that area.

Should I find myself on the water during the mid-day when the wind dies down and the water is completely flat. I might run and gun to beat the heat!
This may be as simple as traveling a couple of miles to chase an incoming or outgoing tide at a different location. Or, if the tide is slack in your area and your waiting for it to turn, I sometimes just check out nearby channel markers, buoys or range markers for cobia or triple tail. The constant moving cools everyone off and increase our chances in locating some fish.

Mangrove snapper has been outstanding this month. Many rock piles, bridges and artificial reefs are loaded right now. With a 10-inch minimum and a five fish per person limit, it’s been easy to limit out, even when I have four to five anglers on board.

The catch and lease snook fishing is good also. Snook are still spawning and most of the bridges and mangrove points are stacked with snook.
If you like to catch and blacken redfish for dinner, the best tide to locate a school is around a high tide. This time of year, redfish like to have a lot of water over their backs as they move across the flats. I usually don’t even start looking for redfish until a 2.0 incoming tide or higher. Most days, the redfish we catch are too large to keep, but a few manage to make the 18/27-inch slot.

Many times, I get too busy to write fishing reports as often as I would like. So, if you’re interested in seeing my most recent post, please like me on Facebook to receive Afishionado updates. For charter reservations call Wade at 813-286-3474.